


vacancy

by peachyun



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, jaehyun getting a birthday party, nct as hotel n spa employees
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-27 21:25:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17774462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachyun/pseuds/peachyun
Summary: In a hotel filled with couples spending the Valentine's Day together one guy stood out; all by himself, not a hint of smile on his face. Upon finding out it's his birthday, the employees come up with a plan.





	vacancy

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday jaehyunnie boy! here's a piece of him being appreciated during his birthday.  
> enjoy!

_The 7th Sense Hotel & Spa _ was a nice, quiet place, known for its warm decor, variety of forms of relaxation and indoor activities, and most of all - its Valentine’s Day offer. They promised to ease all of your senses, help you let go of all of your worries for the duration of your stay and feel like you’re the most important person on earth, all while next to your loved one. They were fairly new but had already made a name for the place. They had live music, a bar, delicious food, a wide assortment of different baths and massages, all in favour for couples who decided to spend their Valentine’s Day there. This year this special holiday fell on a Sunday, so the offer extended over the course of 3 whole days. It wasn’t for people with shallow wallets, but it was definitely worth every coin, at least according to all previous guests who had the opportunity to stay over and benefit from its many attractions.

It was cozy, a paradise of sorts. But it also had its fair share of curious workers who might have had other things to do - things they were being paid to do, specifically - but still couldn’t resist the temptation to observe the clients.

“Hey!” Donghyuck from the room service hissed as he rushed to the front desk, his fluffy hair bouncing with every step. It was saturday, the second day of their clients’ romantic getaway. “The guy from 303A, is he here alone?”

Taeyong scowled, barely sparing him a glance from where he was wiping the countertop with a white rag. He was just minding his business, only two hours of working at the reception left until he could go home in peace. “Hyuckie, you know it’s none of your business--”

“Yes, but it’s _Valentine’s Day_ soon,” the shorter boy whispered hotly, looking over his shoulder as if checking to see if the man he was talking about didn’t just conveniently materialize behind him to hear what he had to say about him. “We only have couples for the weekend and he’s always been by himself whenever any of us see him.”

“ _Any_ of you? Were you spying on our client?!” Taeyong raised his voice and smacked a hand over his own mouth, having forgotten himself a little. He quickly regained his posture and fixed his younger friend with a disapproving look. “He’s here to relax, I don’t think he’d appreciate you lot observing him like he’s some sort of a specimen,” he added, quieter, putting the cleaning rag away.

Donghyuck rolled his eyes, much to Taeyong’s further annoyance. He was a lively boy, incredibly eager to stick his nose into everyone’s business for his own entertainment purposes. He did his job well, even if he was there only part-time, and still always managed to find out the hottest gossip. Simply put, he had his ways.

“In a place like this it’s easy to spot someone who sticks out like a sore thumb like he does. He’s brooding all the time and goes everywhere by himself. Sicheng and Taeil say so too. We’re betting on if someone’s going to join him the last minute or if he’s going to stay like that.”

“Let him be,.” Taeyong sighed. It seemed that Donghyuck dragged more people into his gossipy ways with every passing day. To be fair, it wasn’t much of a surprise - the employees were pretty bored, used to the same routine over and over, and every time something was out of the ordinary all of them guzzled down every bit of gossip they caught wind of. Having met so many people here in just fleeting ways, they would often make up stories about them, or share any kind of interesting information they somehow got their hands on.

Seeing how Donghyuck wasn’t moving, staring at him intensely and almost not blinking, Taeyong finally gave up. Donghyuck was persistent like that and had already known that he’d tell what he knew sooner or later. “Okay fine, he booked a weekend for two but arrived by himself Friday morning, during my shift. I didn’t mean to pry, but he made it clear no one is joining him.” He bit his lip. He really shouldn’t share such things but even he couldn’t help but be curious about this particular client. He came there without a glint of happiness in his eyes, his features relaxed but also devoid of any positive emotion. He wasn’t rude or demanding like some of their other clients, he was just… sad. Disappointed, somehow. Alone. Barely there, with his mind elsewhere. Something was clearly troubling him and it was such a shame things like that were happening to a young, handsome man near the holiday dedicated to love, Taeyong thought.

Donghyuck’s eyes glistened as he inhaled. “I knew it. It’s a romance-gone-wrong situation.”

Taeyong snickered. “I don’t think that’s an actual term. Nor do I think we should be prying into his life when he’s definitely not in the mood.”

“See, even you’ve noticed he’s clearly down!” Donghyuck exclaimed, slapping the countertop with his palm. Taeyong sent him a warning look but shook his head.

“Of course I’ve noticed, I work the desk, I see everyone.” He sighed, looking in the general direction of the hotel’s bar, where a live performance by Taeil and Johnny was taking place, soft piano tunes quieter here but still reaching the main hall. “He’s there again, isn’t he?”

“Yup,” Donghyuck popped the ‘p’,  rocking himself on the balls of his feet “just like last night. Yuta is trying to talk to him.”

“Are you guys planning to cheer him up?” Taeyong withheld a sigh that was threatening to fall past his lips. “You know you can’t force someone to be happy. I hope Doyoung’s not on your agenda, he already went to swap Yuta out.”

Donghyuck chuckled as he began to fiddle with the hotel’s business cards, neatly stacked by Taeyong just this morning. “We didn’t plan anything, we’ve just all noticed that the guy is having a really down time for someone in a luxury hotel during the love holiday. Yuta wasn’t even tending the bar yesterday yet he still caught up. And you know how he is, he worries about everyone and wants everyone to smile, and that guy? He’s just so _somber_.”

“You guys talking about the 303A guy?” A voice joined them, making Taeyong jump in his spot before he realised it’s his friend and their masseur, Ten, walking through the staff door behind him. “He’s a sad puppy, isn’t he? And all by himself. I had to send Sicheng away because he’d just stand there and watch as I massaged the guy alone since he didn’t come with a partner.”

Before Taeyong could respond, Donghyuck was already leaning over the countertop, towards Ten. “We think his girlfriend broke up with him when it was too late to resign from the stay. He was supposed to arrive with a plus one but came all by himself.”

“Oh, _we think_?” Ten cocked his hip to the side and sent Taeyong a smirk. “You’re into meddling now, chief?”

Taeyong’s cheeks dusted with pink. “No! I just… couldn’t help to notice… and I’m not a chief!”

“Relax,” Ten snickered. “Speaking of, Kun asked if he can bake a cake and pay from his pocket for a slice for the 303A guy.”

“Everyone’s so interested in him, huh,” Taeyong breathed out, carding a hand through his perfectly styled hair. The tame broke, he might as well join in. “Jungwoo performed at dinner last night and said one of the residents looked like he really needs a hug, too. Even Mark came by to talk about one guy appearing for a scheduled sauna appointment by himself. He really is sticking out.”

“Because his heart is broken,” Donghyuck sighed wistfully. “It’s terrible to see someone so miserable between couples in love. I hardly ever remember our clients, and even if I do it’s strictly because of the nasty mess some of them left behind. I’d joke that he’s ruining everyone’s mood but really, I just feel bad for him.”

“Yeah, we all kind of wish to cheer him up, he’s too handsome to be sulking,” Ten pouted, drumming his fingers against the counter. “Oh, Yuta is coming our way.”

Yuta, still dressed in his work clothes, was in fact walking towards them, concern weighing down on his features. “Guys, 303A is so damn sad.”

“Tell us more,” Ten murmured. “He seemed to want to become one with the massage table, and my skills might be to die for but that wasn't it. He’s just genuinely… mournful.”

“He has his reasons,” the bartender joined them and looked at each of their faces. “Not just that his girlfriend broke up with him barely a week ago with a poor excuse…”

“I knew there was a girl behind this!” Donghyuck punched the air triumphantly.

“... after over a year together.”

Donghyuck lowered his fist and gaze. “Damn, that’s low.”

Taeyong inhaled with a whistle. “That’s terrible! He probably wanted to surprise her with a romantic weekend and now he’s here on his own, brokenhearted, surrounded by PDA.”

“And on top of that,” Yuta spoke up again, making a dramatic pause to gather back everyone’s attention. “It’s his _birthday_ tomorrow. He’s here by himself on his freaking birthday.”

Everyone fell silent, waves of emotions flooding through their eyes.

“That’s so…”

“Oh no…”

Taeyong turned around abruptly, checking the clock above the staff entrance. “There’s almost four hours till midnight. How long did he stay up last night?”

“Two am, I think?” Yuta mused, tapping his chin. “Doyoung mentioned he was there during his entire shift but I don’t know how true it is. He also doesn’t really drink? He orders one whiskey on the rocks and mulls over it, did it today and yesterday too. He’s not the type to drown his sorrows, I assume. But he still started talking only after a while. That’s how I know about his ex and his birthday.”

“Okay, okay,” Taeyong turned to his computer and quickly searched for the schedule. “Almost everyone’s shift is over, do you know who’s still around?”

Donghyuck, Yuta and Ten looked at each other. “Quite a lot of us, I guess?” Donghyuck shrugged. “They always hang around in Sicheng’s room after hours. Dude’s like a magnet.”

Yuta nodded vigorously. “Mark and Jungwoo said they’re having a video game night to relax before tomorrow, they both start their shifts later. Kun is probably still in the kitchen along with Guanheng and Dejun.”

“Yeah, he has a lot of things to prepare, more guests are coming just for Valentine’s,” Ten affirmed, resting his face in his hands as he draped himself over the counter. “Johnny and Taeil are up on stage. We’re here, Doyoung is tending the bar. I think only the gym and pool guys are gone? Since they ended their shifts some time ago.”

“And the morning shift for room service and reception,” Taeyong nodded, looking up profiles of their fitness workers and lifeguards. “They all live closeby. I could try to ring them up and ask if they could come by and get some stuff on the way.”

“Stuff?” Ten grinned widely, fluttering his eyelashes at Taeyong. “What are you planning, chief?”

Taeyong smiled, not even sparing his friend a glance as he dialed the phone number of Yukhei, their lifeguard, “What do you think? And don’t stand there, go tell Kun he can work on that cake. I hope he’ll be happy.”

Ten pushed himself off the counter. “He’ll be _delighted_.” He took off, skipping. Taeyong turned towards the other two as he raised his phone to his ear.

“His name is Jaehyun. Mister Jung. Let’s try not to address him as the 303A guy when we face him, okay?”

🎂

Jaehyun’s attention darted between a fresh glass of water and the glass of whisky, barely touched since he’d ordered it… what, five hours ago? He came down to the bar around six or seven pm and had since seen many people wandering in and out. Even the bartenders switched during this time, the pianist and the singer were also gone. Only he stayed remained, like a part of the decor, slouched over the bar as if he was drunk despite having barely touched the drink.

However, he had an extreme case of white noise happening inside his head.

He hoped the soft crooning of the singer would drown it out but the performance passed by in a blur. The last piano key resonated in the room for an unsatisfyingly short time and then the room returned to a was static state. Again.

Jaehyun sighed, reaching for the glass of water and draining it in one go, tempted to just crunch on the ice cubes for a good few minutes so he didn’t have to bother the bartender again. It was the same guy as yesterday and although he didn’t get to hear about the circumstances of Jaehyun’s lonely stay like the other one, he still kept sending him cautious glances, even more today than the day before. To be fair, he was an unusual sight amidst many lovebirds spending their days together, seemingly attached at the hip. He was the odd one out.

“Sir?” He heard the bartender, his voice a sharp contrast to the silence accompanied only by the radio turned down low. “I think you were asked to drop by the front desk? As soon as possible, sir.”

Jaehyun furrowed his eyebrows, looking at the bartender as if the longer he stared, the more sense it would make. Why would he be needed? Crap, was there something wrong with his room?

“Okay, thank you,” he nodded and reached down to pull out his wallet, but the bartender quickly shook his head and stopped him with a hand motion. “No need for that, we can take care of that later, you should hurry now.”

“Oh,” Jaehyun blinked once, surprised, but put his wallet away. “Alright, thank you once again.”

He got off the stool and headed to the exit, not paying attention to the bartender, so he didn’t see him pull out a plate that said “ _Sorry! We’re closed for the night_.”

The hotel was quiet during when he left the bar, most guests sound asleep to be well rested for all of the attractions planned for Valentine’s Day. Jaehyun couldn’t be bothered, even if it ached a bit more to be alone and heartbroken on this particular day. He needed to shake it off and move on, but after an entire year of thinking everything was okay, perfect even? Yeah, not so easy.

The receptionist who had given him the keys on the first day was standing there, the red hair and a polite smile somehow already engraved in Jaehyun’s mind. Before he could ask anything, the man behind the counter spoke up.

“Mister Jung, thank you for coming here on such short notice!”

 _I was literally next door_ , Jaehyun thought bitterly but knew better than to voice it out. He was never rude, even if he barely kept himself in check. “We’ve found a small error in the papers concerning your stay here. We will need you to give your signature on a few of them, preferably now.”

“Now?” Jaehyun asked in disbelief, both him and the receptionist looking at the clock on the wall. “It’s almost midnight, I’d rather sign them tomorrow-”

“Please, sir,” the red-haired man interrupted him, a pleading expression on his face as he clasped his hands together. “It’s my fault and the boss will be here tomorrow, if he finds out I’ve messed up again… You would be doing me a great favor if you could sign them now.” His eyes shone in the lights of the room. “You’d get some of your money back, actually. Please? Can we get this taken care of now?”

Jaehyun held the red-haired man’s gaze for a few seconds but his resolve was surely melting away. Finally, he heaved a sigh and glanced away. “Alright. Lead the way.”

The receptionist beamed at him, sending him a beautiful smile before he disappeared behind the door, just to join him on the other side of the counter. He was a bit shorter than Jaehyun, but his features were sharper; a prominent jaw, a straight nose. Only his eyes were round and soft without sharp edge to them. Jaehyun tore his gaze away when the man inhaled sharply and asked for Jaehyun to follow him.

Together they came up to the elevator and entered it. Jaehyun wasn’t really paying attention to his surroundings, kind of ashamed of ogling the receptionist a few minutes prior. He barely noticed anyone during his stay anyways, ghosting around for the most part, and he prefered it this way.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened, showing off a familiar corridor leading to the restaurant. The receptionist - Taeyong, Jaehyun somehow managed to read off his tag - stepped out, humming a song quietly. Jaehyun walked after him, not questioning anything until Taeyong stopped exactly in front of the dining room. He pointed towards the entrance, as if asking him to go in first. Jaehyun raised an eyebrow, sceptic, but decided not to ponder it any further, and pushed the door open, stepping into the pitch black room.

“ _HAPPY BIRTHDAY_!”

Jaehyun yelped out and tried to back away but Taeyong blocked him, having not entered the room yet. Panicking, he almost made them both fall down, but then the lights lit up.

 _Oh_.

There were around twenty people, all in party hats, some of them holding balloons, some clapping. One of them was holding a huge birthday cake and sporting a very proud expression like the pastry was his own child. One popped a champagne bottle open and started screaming along with the young-looking guy next to him. There was confetti being thrown in the air, glitter slowly falling down, and a huge banner with his name on it on the wall. A _Happy Birthday_ song was playing softly in the background, barely audible through all of the noise.

It was his birthday. The midnight has just passed. And he had a birthday party thrown by… strangers.

Between all those men yelling and singing, Jaehyun found himself speechless.

And then he started laughing all of sudden. Loud, whole-heartedly and happily laughing.

He leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch a breath. Those around him started to look mildly concerned as they watched him wheeze in and out.

“Dude, are you okay?” One of them asked. Jaehyun vaguely remembered receiving a massage from him the day before. “He seems to be having a breakdown of sorts, anyone know what to do?”

“I’m- I’m fine,” Jaehyun responded with a cough, inhaling deeply and trying to stop another wave of laughter from overtaking his body. “I just… You guys made me so happy, honestly. This is so much for me, I… ”

“It’s alright.” He felt a hand gently lay on his shoulder as Taeyong gave him a reassuring look. “We didn’t mean to pry but we also couldn’t let you spend your birthday like it was any other day. It’s special.” The small crowd made cheerful noises at that.

Jaehyun was smiling so wide he felt like his face was being split in half. “I don’t deserve this.”

“Don’t say that!” The guy holding the cake gasped, sounding offended. “Everyone deserves to have a party. And a cake!”

A tall man, that Jaehyun recognized to be the one who’d played the piano just that evening, nodded his head. “And everyone should try Kun’s baking at least once.”

“He’s right!”

“You really don’t wanna miss out!”

“Yup!”

Jaehyun looked between all of the friendly faces of  people he didn’t know the slightest bit. But now he started to recognize most of them, if not all. They all worked at the hotel and have served him one way or another. “You guys are all living here or…?”

“Enough talking!” A young guy with fluffy caramel hair clapped his hands and smacked the shoulder of his friend holding a bottle of champagne. “Drink first, eat second, talk later. We have a lot of time ahead of us and this bottle is already losing bubbles!”

Everyone cheered.

🎂

“Honestly, thank you for not thinking we’re snooping where we shouldn’t,” Taeyong couldn’t stop bowing down in apology as he walked on Jaehyun’s side. “We overstepped a line but we just wanted to make your visit a bit more enjoyable”

“It’s fine,” Jaehyun laughed out, raising a hand to stop Taeyong from his nervous word cascade. He smiled at the shorter man. Ever since he’d stood in the restaurant, decorated by the employees just for him, he couldn’t wipe the radiant smile off his face. He felt light, happy. He felt noticed and appreciated and though it was a lot, it was exactly what he’d needed.

Taeyong exhaled, tugging one of the longer strands of hair behind his ear. “We were all worried about you but couldn’t really ask since it was none of our business. If you didn’t open up to Yuta, we wouldn’t have known you’re spending your birthday on your own.”

“Yuta has his ways to crack people open,” Jaehyun mused, almost letting out a giggle. A _giggle_! “It made me feel better too. To finally talk about it and accept it as a thing that happened. Pretending nothing was wrong clearly didn’t work out for me.”

“Yeah,” Taeyong agreed before he bit his tongue, looking nervously at the other man. Luckily Jaehyun laughed in response. “I’m sorry the hotel couldn’t just give you your money back. I know this offer costs a lot and you can’t even change it up to attend some of the attractions twice yourself. It’s a bummer,”he changed the topic

Jaehyun hummed. “It was a pain at first, but now?” His cheeks were aching from smiling so much. “I’m happy. It was one of the nicest birthdays I’ve ever had. The most surprising, too. I didn’t expect to have any party organised for me, let alone a party organised by people who don’t know me but still worry about my well-being.”

Both men laughed. The atmosphere was light, Jaehyun felt like there were feathers in his chest, a slightly ticklish feeling but much more welcome than the weight he was dragging around ever since he’d arrived. He hadn’t laughed so much in a long time, and he’d thoroughly enjoyed himself. He even got to know all the workers personally, got to see them outside of the kitchen, the gym, the bar. Yukhei and Yangyang knew the best jokes. Taeil might have only sang on stage, but he also played the guitar whereas Johnny, who usually played the piano, sang most of the songs. Jeno from the gym had a very prominent crush on one of the receptionists, or maybe even on both of them. They both got red from the champagne quite quickly and began to giggle the loudest. Taeyong was also a lightweight, marking all the receptionists as such. Donghyuck seemed to know everything about everyone and although he could get snarky, everyone from the hotel looked like they’d walk through fire for him. Kun was really passionate about magic tricks and illusions and Chenle gasped each time he performed something he’d learned recently. Everyone kept saying Ten was the more outgoing and touchy masseur, but it was Sicheng who leaned his head on Jaehyun’s shoulder at some point of the night, his eyes closing on their own before Jungwoo called it a night for him. Yuta kept hugging him out of nowhere and although it spooked him at first, Jaehyun soon got used to it. After around two hours he and Mark were proclaimed soulmates on the basis of having so much in common.

All of them were such a wholesome crowd, loud and different from each other but still belonging together like a family. Jaehyun barely knew them but during the four hours that his party lasted, not for a second did he feel out of place or like an outsider. They were all incredibly welcoming and accepting and it touched his heart in the best way possible.

They reached Jaehyun’s room soon, the entire corridor quiet unlike the restaurant just a few minutes ago.

“Hope you don’t think it was all just a dream tomorrow,” Taeyong joked, fiddling with his fingers.

Jaehyun chuckled. “I wouldn’t come up with this entire thing on my own. Only one of us is such a genius at throwing parties.”

Taeyong smacked his arm, a laugh escaping his lips. “Sleep well. You’d probably get a special breakfast for your birthday, courtesy of Guanheng. He said Kun had you sold on his cake so he’s hoping to impress you with his omelettes.”

“Oh, he has to try very hard, Kun really secured a position in my heart,” Jaehyun sighed, one hand flying up to his chest. “On a more serious note though, thank you for all of this. I know it was a group effort and everyone did so much for me and I will thank them all personally, but I kind of figured out that it was you who pulled all the strings. You’re really selfless, organising a party for a stranger when you could be home, sleeping. You made my stay much better. I owe you.”

“You made my job here more enjoyable too, if I’m being honest. It was nice to do something fun and a bit crazy for a change,” Taeyong hummed, a small but still beautiful smile painting itself on his face. “Seemed like we both fixed eachother’s stay here, huh?”

Jaehyun nodded. “We should see each other more to see if we really make everything better together.”

Taeyong nodded before he froze. “W-wait, what do you mean?”

“Goodnight, Taeyong.”

“Wait, Jaehyun, no-”

Jaehyun, for the thousandth time of the night, laughed out loud, closing the door behind himself and leaving the pink-faced Taeyong paralyzed in the hallway. After a few nervous huffs, Taeyong resigned, turning around and leaving, though not without shouting a sincere, though flustered, “ _sleep well, birthday boy!_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> big thanks to [jax](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jumping_jax/pseuds/jumping_jax) for being the fastest beta alive <3  
> [twt](https://twitter.com/kihyeonssi)


End file.
